System for synchronizing the output signals from multiple media

Abstract

The method of presenting events such as audio and video instructions to a computer user including the recording instructions in the form of an audio soudtrack 15 on a recording tape 10, assigning coded indicia 16 to the various instructional events of a computer program recorded in a memory 31 and recording the coded indicia and instructional events in a table lookup 29, recording a mulitplicity of each indicia on the recording tape adjacent the soundtrack portion the computer program event is to occur, and reading back the recording tape while feeding the audio signal to an audio output 36 and the indicia signal to the table lookup to cause the events or instructions to occur in synchronism.

We claim 
     
       1. The method of presenting events in a preselected order wherein the events are selected from a first and second series of events, said method comprising the steps of: recording the first series of events on a first media;   assigning separate coded indicia to each event of said second series;   recording said second series of events on a second media with a table lookup identifying each event with the respective coded indicia;   recording multiple numbers of each coded indicia on the first media adjacent the first series event at which the second series event is to occur;   reading back and presenting the first series of events in the order detected on the first media; and   reading back the coded indicia and referring to the table lookup to present the associated second series event only when the coded indicia is detected in a preselected manner.   
     
     
       2. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the preselected manner is the detection of a predetermined number of like coded indicia in consecutive order. 
     
     
       3. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the coded indicia includes means to indicate the assigned order of presentation of the identified events. 
     
     
       4. The method as defined in claim 3, including means for detecting and indicating when the coded indicia are read out of the assigned order thereby indicating the first media is not being read continuously. 
     
     
       5. The method of synchronizing audio instructions with a display on a computer screen to teach a student how to interact with a program of events in a predetermined order in a computer system, comprising the steps of: recording a first track on a cassette tape comprising an audio signal which can be ready by a reader and fed to a speaker to generate audio signal including instructions to the student;   recording a second track on the cassette tape comprising a plurality of groups of indicia with each group being individually detectable from each other group and each indicia of a group being capable of causing the computer system to execute a corresponding event of the program on the computer screen;   providing a first reader with a speaker for reading the audio signal from the cassette tape and feeding the audio signal from the cassette tape and providing audio instructions to the student;   providing a second reader for reading the second signal from the cassette tape and feeding the corresponding indicia to the computer system only when a plurality of indicia of a group is detected in a predetermined sequence to cause the event identified with the indicia read to be displayed on the computer screen; and   providing input means for the student to interact with the computer system to manipulate the displayed program in response to the audio instructions.   
     
     
       6. The method as defined in claim 5 including the step of providing in the computer system of a memory for recording the inputs provided through the input means by the student. 
     
     
       7. The method as defined in claim 6 including the step of allowing of the students to access the cassette tape at any point to begin the instruction. 
     
     
       8. The method as defined in claim 5 including means to detect whether the indicia of a group read by the second reader causes the program to execute an event normally following the event indicated by the preceding group of indicia detected to determine if the cassette tape has been repositioned since the preceding indicia was read. 
     
     
       9. The method of synchronizing audio instructions with a second signal causing the display of a sequence of events on a display system to a student having means to interact with the display, comprising the steps of: recording an audio signal and a second signal on a recording media;   reading back both signals simultaneously from said recording media;   feeding the audio signal to a speaker to provide audio instructions to the student;   feeding the second signal to the display system responding thereto to supply an event to be displayed corresponding tot he particular audio instructions being provided;   enabling of the display system to display multiple events wherein each event is a progression of the next preceding event;   providing means to enable the student to interact with the display system and change the events displayed;   providing means for recording changes to the events provided by the student;   providing means for allowing the student to access the recording media at any event; and   providing means to display previous events where the student accesses randomly an event that is a progressive on previous events.   
     
     
       10. The method of synchronizing audio instructions with a display on a computer screen to teach a student how to interact with a program of events in a predetermined order in a computer system, comprising the steps of: recording a first track on a cassette tape comprising an audio signal which can be read by a reader and fed to a speaker to generate an audio signal including instructions to the student;   recording a second track on the cassette tape comprising a series of indicia individually detectable from each other and each capable of causing the computer system to execute a corresponding event of the program on the computer screen;   providing a first reader with a speaker for reading the audio signal from the cassette tape and feeding the audio signal from the cassette tape and providing audio instructions to the student;   providing a second reader for reading the second signal from the cassette tape and feeding the corresponding indicia to the computer system to cause the event identified with the indicia to be displayed on the computer screen;   providing input means for the student to interact with the computer system to manipulate the displayed program in response to the audio instructions;   detecting whether the indicia read by the second reader causes the program to execute an event normally following the event indicated by the preceding indicia detected to determine if the cassette tape has been repositioned since the preceding indicia was read; and   causing the computer system to execute other events of the program prior to the execution of the event indicated by the indicia detected when required for the proper execution of the program.